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- Irom Sharmila has decided to break her fast after 16 years. She will end her hunger strike on August 9 and contest the Manipur Assembly elections as an Independent candidate. She had been striking in protest of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives the army extensive power in certain sensitive regions, and has been rallying relentlessly for the repeal of the Act.
- Two Indians, social activist Bezwada Wilson and musician TM Krishna, have won the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016. The award is regarded as Asia’s Nobel Prize. Bezwada Wilson is the National Convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA). He has extensively worked on liberating scores of people engaged in manual scavenging across the country. T.M. Krishna has been recognized for ensuring social inclusiveness in culture. He is a Carnatic music vocalist. The awards will be bestowed at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on August 31, the birth anniversary of former Philippines President Ramon Magsaysay.
- The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands has ruled against Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of India’s space organisation, ISRO, in the case with Devas Corporation. The case concerns the sharing of spectrum on satellites. Following the ruling, India may have to give 1 billion compensation to Devas.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share his vision and strategy for India’s development over the next seven to fifteen years with the NITI Aayog, on Thursday. While Prime Minister Modi is the chairman of the NITI Aayog, its CEO is Amitabh Kant.
- The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed a committee headed by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya, to prepare a road map for reforming the two regulatory bodies in the field of education — the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The committee is already set to propose the scrapping of the MCI, and its replacement with the National Medical Commission (NMC).
- The Union Government has approved nearly 1,600 crore rupees for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under skill development initiative called ‘Himayat’. Under it, youth from both rural and urban areas of J&K would be imparted with training in various job-intensive vocational courses over the next three years.
- The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has setup a seven-member expert committee for exploring the other possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons. The Committee will be headed by T V S N Prasad, Joint Secretary in the MHA.
- The Union Government has issued a notification for the implementation of 7th Pay Commission. With this issuance, 4.8 million central government employees and 5.2 million pensioners will get the increased payout from their August 2016 salaries.
- The BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue was successfully concluded in Patna, Bihar. Delegates of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa attended the meeting.
- Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart acquired online fashion portal Jabong through its fashion unit Myntra.
- This year’s Bharat Gaurav Award will be conferred on Milkha Singh, by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
- Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has unveiled the Amazon Prime membership program in India. With this, Indian customers in over 100 cities can enjoy unlimited free one-day and two-day delivery on lakhs of eligible products.
- Hillary Clinton has become the first woman to win a major Party nomination for the Presidential Elections in the USA. She has been nominated as the frontrunner for the Democrat Party.
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared Brazil free of measles, after no case of the disease was registered in the year 2015.
Today’s Quiz
